Consumer Electronics Show: ioSafe hard drive survives water, wind and bullets
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Dropping the new ioSafe hard drive 20 feet onto concrete won’t kill it. Piling 5,000 pounds on top of it won’t crush it. Even shooting it doesn’t work -– trust us, we tried at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Seems like the portable drive, debuting this week at the CES in Las Vegas, is working hard for its ‘Rugged’ name. The sleek box, made with a full metal jacket of aluminum or titanium alloy, can hold up to 5 gigabytes of data while withstanding most furious forces hurled at it.
Super-spies entrusted with top-secret intel can now breathe easy: The tough gadget can supposedly power through even after being sunk into 30 feet of water for three days or covered with a foot of fuel, oil or other fluid for an hour.
The gizmo, which is compatible with both Mac and Windows, also doesn’t mind high altitudes or being pummeled by sand, dust, icy weather or UV rays. In addition to its one-year data recovery service and warranty, there’s also a built-in Kensington security slot.
The drives are now available starting at $150.
Chief Executive Robb Moore founded the Auburn, Calif.-based company several years ago, soon after the birth of his first child, when he realized the significance of potentially losing files such as baby photos.
Since then, the occasional pilot has discovered various ways to build extremely hardy data storage systems -- and increasingly creative methods to attempt to destroy them. Past CES gimmicks include dunking hardware into swimming pools, surrounding it by a flaming inferno, even pitching it under the wheels of a tractor.
This year, Moore rolled up to the American Shooters gun range in a limo. Once inside, he proceeded to give the hard drive a bath in a fish tank, pound it with a hammer and shower it with attention from a 12-gauge shotgun.
Wonder how the ioSafe box looks tucked into a bulletproof trenchcoat?
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-- Tiffany Hsu
